20-12-2022 | di COOPI

Italy. Artists Gemitaiz, MACE and Manuel Marini donate 16,000 euros to treat malnutrition in Congo with COOPI

Rapper Gemitaiz (Davide de Luca), producer MACE (Simone Benussi) and director Manuel Marini have donated the proceeds from the streaming of the song and video clip 'Bianco/Gospel' and from the rental of the documentary 'Quello che resta' (between July 2020 and November 2022), to support the child malnutrition treatment project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, implemented by COOPI - Cooperazione Internazionale. The 16,000 euros raised will help save over 100 children between the ages of 0 and 5, enabling the humanitarian organisation present in the country since 1977 to support their hospitalisation, medical treatment and nutritional monitoring.

The initiative comes in the aftermath of the trip that Gemitaiz, MACE and Manuel Marini made to Mozambique in January 2020. The rapper tells:

We didn't take into account that being a singer, a producer and a director, the passion for our work would overwhelm us and force us to create something there, with that energy, those sunsets, those vibes. We made two pieces and shot a video clip to bring them together. We got it into our heads that it would be great to document that world and show how it had influenced our artistic choices at the time.

Hence the decision to turn the artistic outcome of that trip into something that could generate something good in Africa.

Luis Sisto, area manager, on COOPI's approach in DRC:

We combat malnutrition in an integrated way, ensuring maternal and child health services, integrating water and sanitation elements, strengthening local physical and economic access to food in sufficient quantity and quality. To ensure effectiveness and sustainability, our interventions are based on a community and participatory approach that involves involving and strengthening the capacities of key health institutions and structures, at national and local levels, and the communities themselves.

In 2021, COOPI implemented six malnutrition projects in Congo that helped 103,583 people, including children under five, pregnant and breastfeeding women. Due to its expertise, COOPI plays the role of co-facilitator with UNICEF of the Nutrition cluster in DRC and therefore contributes to the definition and monitoring of the humanitarian intervention strategy common to the international NGOs operating in the country.

Claudio Ceravolo, doctor and president of COOPI, adds:

It is through proper nutrition that an individual develops well, continues to grow, becomes resistant to diseases and overcomes them by being able to carry out his or her daily activities. When nutrition is insufficient, an individual is malnourished. International estimates suggest that malnutrition can be a decisive brake on economic growth. Therefore, ensuring adequate nutrition for children is vital for their survival and harmonious development, but it can certainly also contribute to the fight against poverty and inequality.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the largest and richest states in terms of natural resources on the African continent, but the country's multiple internal conflicts have resulted in a complex humanitarian crisis that fuels food and nutrition insecurity.

To support COOPI's work against malnutrition: https://sostieni.coopi.org/lotta_malnutrizione/

As of 15 December, the documentary 'Quello che resta' is available for free on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnfKbsqmzoY

Cover photo: ph. Manuel Marini